1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to computer systems, and more specifically to a BIOS/Utility Setup display program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computer systems have attained widespread use. A personal computer system can usually be defined as a desktop or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a system processor or central processing unit (CPU) with associated memory, a display panel, a keyboard, a hard disk storage device or other type of storage media such as a floppy disk drive or a compact disk read only memory (CD ROM) drive. These personal computer systems are information handling systems which are designed primarily to give independent computing power to a single user or group of users.
One of the methods typically used to initialize devices on a personal computer system is called the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). The BIOS is a program embedded in an integrated circuit component located on the personal computer's main circuit board or mother board. The BIOS runs the Power-On-Self-Test (POST), which is included as part of the BIOS. The POST software initializes the computer hardware so that the computer's operating system can be loaded. All bootable devices must be initialized prior to loading the operating system in order to boot-strap the computer system. Such devices include any Initial Program Load (IPL) devices such as floppy drives or hard drives that can boot-strap and load an operating system.
In order to inform the BIOS of the devices and options installed on a system, computer systems record setup information in a storage system that can be referenced quickly during bootup, typically in nonvolatile system setup memory. A setup program allows the user to configure the operating system and select a particular IPL device. Pressing a particular key on the keyboard during BIOS initialization executes the setup program. Once the setup program executes, the operating system for a computer is loaded from a particular IPL device. A user sets up the particular IPL device through the system Setup program which is part of the BIOS.
The BIOS Boot Specification, Version 1.01, Jan. 11, 1996, ("BIOS Boot Specification") promulgated by "COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION.TM.", "PHOENIX TECHNOLOGIES, LTD.TM.". and "INTEL CORPORATION.TM.", is incorporated herein by reference. The BIOS Boot Specification (BBS) provides a method for the BIOS to identify all IPL devices on a computer system. According to the BBS, the user, through the Setup program, prioritizes the IPL devices so that the system will attempt to boot using each bootable device selected in the order specified. Prioritizing IPL devices is similar to the commonly known boot priority system of attempting to boot using floppy drive A first, then hard drive C. The difference is that the BBS can include additional IPL devices such as a bootable AT Attachment Packet Interface ("ATAPI") CD-ROM drive, a Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association ("PCMCIA") drive, an embedded network adapter, and "Plug-n-Play" (PnP) devices.
Although the additional IPL devices enable numerous boot options for usage by the user when running the Setup program, the BBS display of bootable devices in the Setup program fails to display all possible bootable drives when the number of possible bootable devices exceeds the displayable option space limit. For example, if four Power-Edge Raid Controllers.TM. (PERC) adapter cards are connected in a system holding eight disk pods, such as a Dell Poweredge.TM. Scalable Disk Storage 100 (SDS 100) unit. In addition, each disk pod in the system contains eight bootable devices, Thus, the user can select from 64 possible bootable devices in theory. The Setup program may be capable of displaying only a fraction of the bootable device selections due to limits in option space. This is a limitation inherent in the BBS standard.
A need has been felt for a Setup Program that is able to display IPL devices as bootable devices according to the BBS standard in a user-friendly manner.